gas-turbine the size of a coin

MIT researchers are putting a tiny gas-turbine engine inside a silicon chip about the size of a quarter. The resulting device could run 10 times longer than a battery of the same weight can, powering laptops, cell phones, radios and other electronic devices.It could also dramatically lighten the load for people who can’t connect to a power grid, including soldiers who now must carry many pounds of batteries for a three-day mission — all at a reasonable price.

If you’ve ever had your laptop or mobile phone batteries go just at that important point you will appreciate this research being done at MIT. This tiny fuel burning engine will be made up of silicon wafers, piled up like pancakes. At present none have been assembled, but all of the constituent parts have been tested and work. They hope to have a working prototype by the end of the year.